Companion Planting & Garden Value: Fava Bean (Broad Bean)
Vicia faba
Spacing: 4 per square foot. Mature height: 2-4 ft.
Plant these nearby
- Cabbage: Fixes nitrogen that heavy-feeding cabbage uses, the same mechanism bush beans provide cucumbers. Fava is a cool-season legume, though, so the overlap only works where both are in the ground at once: an overwintered fava or an early spring one, not a summer planting.
Keep these apart
Nothing it needs to be kept away from.
Common pairings, answered directly
- Can I plant fava bean (broad bean) next to cabbage?
- Yes. Fixes nitrogen that heavy-feeding cabbage uses, the same mechanism bush beans provide cucumbers. Fava is a cool-season legume, though, so the overlap only works where both are in the ground at once: an overwintered fava or an early spring one, not a summer planting.
Lay this out in the Garden Designer →

Pin this for later
Companion planting for Fava Bean (Broad Bean): which plants to grow next to it, which to keep apart, and the reason behind each pairing.
Save to Pinterest